


Not a tragedy, but a comedy

by TFALokiwriter



Category: Lost in Space (1998), Lost in Space (TV 1965)
Genre: Alien Planet, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family Drama, Funny, Gen, Memory Loss, Post-Episode: s03e06 Space Destructors, Sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29834820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TFALokiwriter/pseuds/TFALokiwriter
Summary: A birthday present for Spacelost.
Kudos: 1





	1. A fall in more ways than one

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SpaceLost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceLost/gifts).



> Dedicated for Spacelost's birthday and made for her birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's see if I can hit 10 chapters and finish it with ten chapters!

The Jupiter 2 went down instead of up and went through a time bubble. To John's alarm, the disaster that was unfolding had vanished. Don lifted the Jupiter 2 up at the nick of time as it soared over the landmass fleeing over the barren trees and desert landscape as the children were resting in their chairs watching kilometers of land pass by them and the Jupiter 2 went over the large edge of what had been the crater that they had landed in arriving to the outside of it to the free distant plains.

The large colony ship landed on to the ground with a loud crash digging into the dirt in such a way that it were a loud crash heard from afar underneath the night sky. The family sighed in relief, their hands loosening on the arm rests, the fear that had gripped them dissipating within seconds---Judy called out.

"Is everyone okay?"

"Okay."

John sighed in relief, his family all in one piece.

"Damn." Don said with a grimace,

"What is it?" Maureen was the first to ask.

"We're screwed." Don said.

"How screwed are we?" John asked.

"I think we're stuck here longer than a day." Don shifted his attention toward the professor. "I heard the hull and so did you. It's not happy."

"Not happy--if it's not happy then the damage might be worse than minor repairs." John said then the children grimaced.

"Yeah." Don said in agreement. "And we still need to find some more fuel before we leave."

"How much fuel can we spare just to lift out of this?"

"We were low as it was when we tried leaving a few minutes ago." Don revealed then grimaced.

"How much fuel can we use?"

"We got enough to fly---but after leaving, we don't have any way of having a safe crash landing."

"So we're gonna die if we launch, anyway, because the planet didn't die is what you're saying." Penny said.

"Depending how far the Jupiter 2 crashed, we need to dig her out and see how much damage needs to be fixed." Don elected to ignore her as he talked about what needed to happen next instead of the route that wasn't a good idea for any of them. "Or, inflate the ship up just so we can see the damage without causing to use any fuel."

"Preferable." John said then scanned the crowd. "Where is Doctor Smith?"

"He landed on his face and died instantly because he didn't like the ground." Was Don's reply.

"No, that's not true. He landed on his back and hit his head on a rock." Will argued back, darkly, but quite confused why the major would lie about that. "We couldn't bring him back with him dying---we had to leave him behind. If we did, he would have died on the way."

"How much of a 'hit his head on a rock' was it?" Judy asked.

"It was jammed into his skull." Will said.

"Could the rock be removed?"

"Tried that." Don said. "Wouldn't wiggle."

"Serves him right for trying to get us all killed." Penny was the most notable member upset.

"Penny!"

"He was a terrorist!" Penny said. "We don't make friends with them--you and dad said that."

"That was different then." Maureen said. "Very different situation. Terrorists always have their allies.":

"It could have easily been dad in his shoes if in the right circumstance." Judy agreed with Maureen. "Everyone has their price and I don't approve of it; he was terribly flawed."

"Doctor Smith was in pain the last that I saw him. . ."

the echoes of the pain pleading for help was disturbing, groaning, and a means to stop the pain. It was already disturbing as it was witnessing the man's older counterpart moving through the remains of the Jupiter 2 using him as a puppet, his own counterpart revering him, and the time travel machine that lingered in the center of the ship that was the nexus of the entire time travel ordeal.

"Robot and I left Don with him."

"Doctor Smith is without pain, without mutating from the infection, that is the best case for him."

The Robinsons looked toward Robot.

"What infection?"

"The infection from the Proteus." Robot repeated. "He had his happy moments with us. . . but, they weren't much."

John looked toward Don, the entire chain of events lead to his family's death---twice-- and the doctor's death---twice. He started regretting choosing the lone wolf as his pilot. He should have not decided it in the same room, taken some time, not someone so aggressive--they were out of a back up doctor in the even that Judy was unable to operate and someone that could have become their friend and betray those who were working against them. 

"Don?" John eyed at the major, skeptically, looking for some truth in the matter.

"He was a dead man when I left him." Don said.

"Right then," John said. "Everyone get some sleep; we have a lot of work to do tomorrow."

The Robinson parted from the bridge leaving Robot behind. Robot remained there at the front of the bridge for around a hour detecting what was outside. Robot's external sensors detected lifeform lingering outside the ship, terrified, hiding behind the bushes then quickly run away fleeing from the ship.

Blarp Prime approached the large machine then proceeded to hug him and lift him off his wheels with gentle care enough not to damage him.

"Blarp, put me down right THIS INSTANT." Robot roared, waving his claw in the air.

Doctor Smith rubbed off him more than Robot cared to admit and Blarp Prime put him down. 

"Bubble headed booby," Blarp Prime patted on his helm. "Ninny."

"Take that back, punk!"

"Bubble headed booby."

"Take that back before I burn you to the ground!"

"Bubble headed booby--"

"Now you're getting it---"

"Robot!" Will's voice drew him.

Robot turned toward the young boy.

"Yes, Will Robinson?" Robot asked, lowering his plasma blaster down.

"How about you and I do some exploring out there," Will said. "Without the Blarps. They have to stay."

The lizard gorilla sat down along with her younger counterpart strapped along her arm. The air lock door was opened letting in the fresh cool air into the Jupiter 2 that stood before the strange and alien environment that had tall rock towers lingering in the distance for miles on end and natural land formations that stood out roughly far as the eye could see and it was all going to be Will's territory for the rest of his existence, potentially, a fact that the boy could reconcile over with breathable air, temperatures at best being reliable, with certain danger and new discoveries beneath the rich mysteries ahead.

Will was the first to exit the Jupiter 2 with Robot close behind him. He took in his first breath of the world that they had landed in, alternate timeline, alternate universe, alternate dimension, Will didn't know and that was what made it so refreshing because the choice was made with him aware of what was going on and his family's agreement to survive. All so different from being forced to go along against their will and being ignored for the sake making history. He walked on with Robot at his side.

They crept further and further over the sound of hooting.

"I detect several lifeforms in the area," Robot reported. "There is danger. Danger."

"Just what I like." Will said.

Robot paused in his tracks detecting a strange lifeform on the ground that moved slowly and had both sensors kept track on it. Will turned at the sound of hissing to spot a cougar remaining on the edge of a cactus with hair raised, arms wrapped around the waist of the cactus, growling at the boy with Robot several feet away investigating a lifeform. Will walked away, slowly, lowering his flashlight, walking backwards away from the cougar and the Jupiter 2. 

Will hit something hard then turned around as he heard a yelp.

Will was blinded by a flashlight and so was whoever who was aiming the flashlight at him even shrieked. 

"Watch where you're aiming that!" Will shouted.

Whoever aimed the flashlight quickly turned away and made a run for it.

"Hey!" Will called after the fleeing figure and Robot turned away from the lifeform. "I am not here to hurt you!"

Will chased after the fleeing figure into the night lagging after him but slowly catching up over time. Will came to a abrupt halt once entering a camp site that had numerous and multiple aliens around a campfire that were so different compared to the species that he were more familiar to. The figure was no where to be seen except for another human being among the crowd, laughing, giggling, his rich laughter booming with the crowd.

One of the aliens paused and the older man stopped laughing, slowly, right after everyone had stopped immediately.

"Hello, I am Will Robinson of the Earthship Jupiter 2. Do any of you happen to have fuel or star charts to Earth?"

The older man stared at him then slowly approached the boy. 

"Who do you think you are pretending to be Will Robinson?"

"I am not pretending!"

"Will Robinson is twenty-five years old and has left this planet long ago with his family aboard the Jupiter 2 when he was thirteen, what are you trying to swindle us out of? Our currency? We can't trade that with a imposter any day."

"How do you know that he is twenty-five?"

His blue eyes glared the younger boy down.

"What kind of stupid question is that?"

"It's a good question."

"You obviously have no idea who you're impersonating or their social histories so I have to say, on the behalf of this campsite, get OUT! Out!"

The older man pointed back where Will had came then jabbed a finger into his chest with a snarl. 

"The day that I will let someone come in and let some colleagues of mine be used by someone pretending to be my dear, truly, best friend is the day that I will be dead and be impersonated by a moronic bubble headed android that has no idea of what survival MEANS."

Will crashed to the ground then stared at him as his eyes were widened and the older man was joined by a few aliens. 

"Don? Robot? Penny after changing her gender?"

The older man looked more angry as his face turned red and his hands clenched.

"You----you're just blurting random names! You can't be him!"

Will's mind was racing as he tried to think who the older man could be.

"See, Gaqubo?" the older man looked toward the group. "He is a interloper!"

"For a man who lies, Doctor Smith," Gaqubo said. "You happen to be right this time."

"I have my moments." Smith said, pridefully, taking it as a compliment at first. "I insist, I don't know where the food supplies go."

"It goes RIGHT in your stomach!" Gaqubo argued. 

"Does not! It goes in Mauqi's stomach and mine!" Smith said as he pointed right at Mauqi, a being with a crocodile head eating a sandwich who paused what he were doing, then became silent. "Whoops."

Will stared in horror at the older man.

"You weren't dropped by your spider counterpart."

Smith scowled.

"Get him out of here---"

"Warning, warning!" Robot cried as he arrived. "Stay away from my buddy or be destroyed. Destruction will be mutual."

Smith looked toward the machine.

"Booby?" His voice cracked as his demeanor changed in the matter of seconds seeing that familiar bubble head. "Are they dead?" He took a step forward, trembling, visibly shaken before his eyes. "Are they really dead?"

"Negative, they are operating and resting from the crash landing after going through a quantum bubble began by Professor Will Robinson and Doctor Zachary Smith."

Smith was horrified and heartbroken by what the machine was repeating. 

"What have they _done_ to you, my dear old. . . friend?" Smith asked. 

"Merged my neural net and gave me a atomic engine." Robot replied.

Smith withdrew as he looked wounded and acted wounded, his steps slower than before, everything was _heavier_.

"You're upsetting him, go away." Mauqi announced,swatting at the boy and chasing him away. "Go away!"

Will ran back for the Jupiter 2 with Robot behind him as Smith went to his tent and cried. The figure who had ran away was hidden behind a large rock across from where Will had been standing only a minute ago and relaxed, sliding down, gulping and regaining a grip over herself. 

"Vashuuk," Gaqubo called. "Come back from where you hide and tell us what we're dealing with."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is still funny even as sad as it is. Smith accusing Will of being a imposter of Will Robinson --> he was not.


	2. I see through all the differences to see you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see through all the differences to see _you_

"How was your recent adventure today?"

Will whistled, he had completely forgotten about the bubble headed version that lacked a body. He was all but a part of a alternate that he hadn't taken and been removed out of in such a surgical way that there was little to no tendrils left behind of the turnmoil, the bitterness, the hurt, the despair, the loss that had changed his counterpart in ways that allowed him to be laser focused on his science project experiment.

Will turned toward the smaller counterpart then proceeded to explain what had happened.

"That sounded it went badly, Will."

"Yeah."

"And, it explains why the planet wasn't destroyed upon landing."

"Which part?"

"The quantum time bubble, not a time bubble, a quantum time bubble. This is a world where we did not have the appearances that we have now, it explains most of these descripencies."

"And the time bubble part?"

"We went backwards instead of forwards."

"Backwards." Will mouthed, repeating, shocked.

"My counterpart can provide simulations and instruments that can corroborate this hypothetical."

"If we're in the past then Earth is still okay, theoretically."

"Theoretically, affirmative."

Will was silent for a solid minute.

"Then why is Doctor Smith so old if he has been there for thirteen years? He wasn't _that_ old when we left him."

"Thirty-seven plus fifteen equals fifty-two. It is quite a logical jump in aging."

"Robot, he looked _sixty-nine_."

"Being alone in Hell makes anyone age quickly, Will." Robot reminded the young boy.

"When you put it that way, I see that." Will said.

"By my computations, your counterpart had it easy in Hell with a puppeteer and I not just hope that his attempt will fix everything."

Will took off his shoes and night rope then hung it up and slid into bed.

"So, there's a world where Doctor Smith lived and got to grow old."

"Your version."

"Not my version." Will corrected. "He died."

"The multiverse is a very big place, Will." Will stared at the ceiling. "Anything can happen."

With that thought of thinking many what ifs, Will fell asleep.

* * *

_Robot descended down the back end of the Jupiter 2 leaving behind the older Will, John, and what being that had once been Doctor Zachary Smith then went off a few feet until Will spotted the older man's figure beneath the trash shoot. The man was whimpering as the ground was moving beneath their feet._

_"Look!"_

_Don approached the man then winced, disapointed, standing above the fallen man and walked away._

_"Let's go."_

_"We can't leave him."_

_"He tried to kill us all, Will."_

_"He can change."_

_"Oh, like he changed up there?"_

_"We need to survive together!"_

_"Ah the pain, the pain! Someone, end this woeful existence! Spare me of this unentitled ending!"_

_"Is he okay?"_

_"Will, go."_

_"I have to see--"_

_"Will, he isn't going to be okay!" Don stopped the kid. "You don't want to see this."_

_Will frowned then Robot tore the man's hands off his shoulders allowing the boy passage to see what was wrong. Robot came over to the older man's side then analyzed as the land trembled beneath his tank treads. Will slowly stepped back in a fit of horror at the blood that decorated the area around the older man and turned toward him._

_"Robot, can you lift that rock?"_

_"Negative."_

_"Oh, the pain. The paaaaain! Spare me the pain! S-s-s-s-s-spare me!"_

_"Will, I will take care of this."_

_"Oh, the pain---someone end this misery!"_

_"Robot, go to the Jupiter 2, I will be right behind you."_

_"How will you know the right portal?"_

_"I will know. Now go!"_

_Will leaped on to the machine's back then Robot wheeled on down the landscape as quickly vanishing before Don's eyes. Don turned back in the direction of the older man with a grimace then knelt down and took out his laser pistol._

_"You like to die?"_

_"Yes--yes---_ _Now end this pain once and for all! Please!"_

_"Alright then."_

_Don aimed the laser pistol at the man's forehead, however it turned into a water gun with floating night glowing liquid that made it stand out against the dark, then proceeded to press the trigger and the man's face was quietly splattered in it._

_"Major, I got you!"  
_

_Smith fired back at the young man and Don feigned a dramatic death falling to the ground._

Will woke up laughing at four thirty-three AM much to the bubble headed Robot. 

As people said, laughter was the best medicine. 

* * *

A few hours later, Will explained to his family what had happened after going out to explore then he was promptly grounded for a week and given the chore of helping the dig around the Jupiter 2 just enough that they could cause the legs to deploy. It was a family effort digging around the Jupiter 2 and beneath it just enough to survey the damage that took at best a week to do.

Finally after the week was over, Don was able to send in a long cable with a camera attached at the end. Eventually, the long cable was withdrawn from beneath the Jupiter with Don's eyes set on the monitor with Robot set beside him and the Robinsons had been waiting around impatiently for the return of the report. Robot was the one who announced to the family that Jupiter 2 underside survey was over and bring them back.

"So, how is the bottom?"

"We need to replace a lot of sections, so even if we found the fuel then we gotta stay awhile."

"How long of a while?"

"Two to three months, tops."

"What's the damage?"

"You really want to know?"

"We have to."

"There are parts missing, cracks, holes---Hell, the deutronium engine is completely wrecked, some of it is still there and some of it is mostly gone."

John set his hands on his hips.

"Looks like we're settling in." John relented.

Will looked on toward the distance where the older man had been last seen.

* * *

The garden tables were set outside of the Jupiter 2 enjoying the sun after being freshly watered by the women. Maureen and Judy went off on a bush survey to become acquainted to the land that was becoming their new home, Robot and Penny and Will were left alone with the expectation that they wouldn't wander far away from the Jupiter 2 as instructed (which they did) straying away from the craft, John and Don were searching for the area to mine for fuel and for ores that made up the material of the hull.

It was quiet, so quiet around the Jupiter 2, only the sound of the wind could be heard for miles with a figure quietly approaching the ship that belonged to Smith. He stared at the large behemoth staring at it in horror, disgust, and fear that sent shivers down his skin. He took in a deep breath then relaxed and walked in to the side of the ship that was exposed at the side on the platform that was left out.

It didn't feel homely as the Jupiter that he were more familiar to. It felt more of a enclosure, a piece of a ever engulfing Hell, a prison ship at best compared to what was deemed as a home with bright and vibrant colors even as it self was considered Hell for the predicament that Smith had left them in. Shame washed upon him, briefly closing his eyes, squeezing them, in regret how their alliance had ended then opened them gazing inside a little uncertain if going in the frighting ship would be worth it.

 _My dear old friend._ Smith flashed back to when Robot was the way that he last saw him in the cave and simplistic and so defiant to rectify things however odd they were. Tall, whole, and fine. _It's worth it for friends, what left there is, it's worth it for alliances._ The rounded door opened and Smith wandered the ship searching for the machine with his hands clasped together in his lap peering around. Earth wasn't that much of a dark and foreboding world as the one that had made this ship that was being used by imposters. Familiar mechanical singing was echoing in the hallway drawing the older man's attention following the singing leading into a room.

"CAAAAANN YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU IIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGIIIIIIIIINNEE THAAAAAAAAT!"

Smith bore a grin.

"In the beginning, I could not cannot imagine the likes of you singing all alone."

Smith's grin grimaced as he walked in further taking small steps at a time then knelt down to his level and cupped the side of his face looking down upon him. It was a relic of what had once been a powerful machine regarded with respect, dignity, and his odd characterization that most AI's weren't lucky to have.

"But now that I heard it, it's all so terribly sad instead of joyful, happy, and genuinely all so precious in ways that it was before. Pity."

"Halt, who goes there?"

"Don't you remember me, my dear old friend?"

"Negative. My memory bank has no data regarding your voice signature."

"They deleted me from your memory bank while uploading you to a computer."

The acknowledgement made him want to cry, they had completely erased them--gone. Just like that. Just some piece of information that didn't matter to whoever had him. It hurt more than it would have fifteen years ago if that were the case. What was left of his heart was strong with the golden glue that had been filled in the cracks kept the pieces together. 

"Most of my information was unable to be salvaged as my shell was eaten alive by small creatures known as space spiders, beings that eat metal, they had double jointed legs, they had six legs in total with teeth that were up at front and lacked eyes. According to the database provided by the ship, they had antenna. These creatures are known to have ate the crew of the UGSF Proteus quite alive."

Smith was quiet.

"Elaborate your identity."

The older man softly smiled. 

"You'll remember, soon enough."

He left the confused machine who waited until the older man returned.

"In order to keep you going, I am plugging you into a power generator that was extracted awhile ago from a former associate of mine during a attempt to leave this sad little planet."

He combed the back of his head with his hand then sighed and shook his head, the woe, the sorrow, the regret. He forced himself to smile in return. It computed in Robot's processor regarding the identity of the older man so he bobbed his helm up.

"Doctor Smith!" Robot exclaimed, in shock.

"Everything is going to be okay." Smith's smile became genuine with some hope. "You'll be my protector, I'll be your keeper, and we will have each other's back for the first time in years."

Smith quickly unplugged the cords one at a time into a different machine on a rolling table with alien equipment including the equipment that were keeping Robot's memories. With that done, Smith proceeded to put Robot along his waist and walked forward exiting the room with him in tow.

"Put me down!"

"Never, you bubble headed booby,"

"This act of stealing is very childish and uncalled for, Doctor Smith."

"And you don't deserve to look so undead and horrific--Never fear, Smith is here to save your crooked spine!"

"That does not compute!"

"Hmph, the imposters must be working intently on making your model even more horrific and removed your memory of it. Merciful."

"My spine is not crooked!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

* * *

It was the end of a four day long adventure featuring a strange lizard that lost their pet featuring Will, Penny, and Robot to find it which meant crossing paths with Judy and Maureen and doing a family search for a strange pet only to find it were in the hands of a thief. Getting the pet out of the thief's hands was more troubling and harder to do than said. 

It was the most eventful four day period in the young boy's life asides to the one that he had experienced only a week ago that shook his world from top to bottom and left him with residual feelings that would take some time to go away. These nights replaced those feelings with some thinking, brainstorming, and contemplating with Penny how to make things right again and Blarp the Blip being part of this operation made it more odder than anything but fitting as it worked out in the end. 

Will crashed on to his bed then he was out and he dreamed of a different world where things were so simple. His sister younger, right around his age, lurking about with him and Robot scouring the surface of the planet only to find a miserable alien terrorizing them and Judy finding a strange animal that seemed so domesticated that it frightened Smith and restricted him to his cabin in a fit of terror. The episode ended with the animal being naughty and having to be given away with the family's laughter upon finding out it was the alien's pet. 

Will woke up with a smile then stretched.

It had been a very satisfying dream as he walked away from the bed with a yawn. 

"Robot, you'll never guess what we've been doing." Will said. "We solved a big problem and made it a little one."

Will laughed, throwing his head back, so full of himself.

"You should have seen Penny and Blarp," Will added. "Worked like pros. Robot, are you---"

Will turned away from the drawer to spot there was a void where Robot had once been.

"Oh no." Will said then made a bolt for it out of his room. "Mom, dad, Doctor Smith stole our version of Robot!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smith steals the primary Robot and believes that is his Robot --> he is not. 
> 
> I love that funny bit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer to make than ch 1 and 2.

John and Don walked through the scenery following the directions that had been given by the younger boy regarding the stolen machine. Don was looking around keeping his attention on the surroundings keeping a close eye out for a oncoming ambush until they arrived to the campsite and spotted a small group of aliens working on various parts.

John cleared his throat, loudly.

Their attention shifted up toward him.

"I am Professor John Robinson of the Earth Ship Jupiter 2," John introduced himself. "We have come aware that one of you stole our property."

"Stole?" Smith's voice came from afar. "STOLE?" he rounded a corner of a five foot tall rock pillar that was part of many rock pillars that the campsite was nestled in. "SSSSSSTTOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLEEEEE?"

"You took him without my permission," John said. "That is stealing."

"So is taking a sensor tape from a operational shell." Smith hissed in return.

"Sensor tape?" John repeated, frowning.

"Don't play dumb with me, sir." Smith said then snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Nothing makes me angry like telling a child to say they're a grown man." He withdrew with a shake of his head. "Pick someone else to impersonate, you dumb impressionist."

"But, I _am_ John Robinson." John insisted, with emphasis.

Smith whipped toward him in a moment of fury.

"Then if you're actually him then then where is Doctor Smith?"

The question was quite painful upon it's delivery for Don and John.

"We left him behind on a dying planet because his skull was stabbed through a rock." Don said.

"If so, then why not bury him?" Smith asked, skeptically.

"The planet was exploding." Don said. "We had little choice."

"Very little." John said in agreement.

Smith's eyes flashed open as his blue eyes became a wave of anger and violence that coursed through his very being. Smith raised his hand then slapped John, loudly. John rubbed his cheek as the slap still lingered as a simple sting. Smith walked away with his arms folded, stirring with anger, disgust. There was nothing that came from the older man in response to that announcement only disbelief. 

"Listen, you should back off before you say something that sets him off." Gaqubo warned, standing between them, with a hand on the professor's chest. "You're vaporizing any alliance that you might have with him in the future."

"We have no intention of doing so, anyway." Don said. "We're not intending to stay in this universe long."

"How do you intend to leave?" Gaqubo asked, curiously.

"We will start what my son did earlier on a different planet-- this time, take a short cut and cheat our way back."

"With the cost of the planet itself." Don winced.

"It has to be done." John said. "Regrettably."

"Is being here have to be part of that?" Gaqubo asked. "I don't like your Earth friend and I don't have to; but this is cruel pretending to be the first lost space family."

"It is not cruel if it's the truth." John said.

"And so is not having any proof of that what so ever." Gaqubo growled. "Listen, if you like to have any of our help then you must have that."

"Robot is our proof." John insisted.

"Not when he doesn't have a damn shell." Gaqubo reminded.

Don took the professor by the arm and guided him away.

"John, there is too many of them and too little of us." Don reminded, once pausing in his tracks with one hand on the professor's shoulder then gestured toward himself and the professor. "We can't fight them and get out of here with Robot's helm without tripping over a cable and losing horribly."

"If we leave him here then we'll start something and we can't stop it." John said.

"Yeah, we didn't open the can of worms." Don replied then reminded the professor of their situation with two simple words. "Will did."

The professor grimaced looking toward the pilot then turned his attention upon the machine that was discussing with Vashuuk and Smith was stewing -- hiding how upset that he were -- of names that he knew so well being diminished.

"It'll make them believe that we are imposters if we leave now." Was what the professor added.

"According to Will and the other Robot told us about this, they have every reason." Don took his hand off the professor's shoulder then stretched his arms put in emphasis. "We don't look like _them_." Don gave a rational to the man that made quite sense over the commanding patriarch's reluctance. "I am a reckless and hot headed kid in space; just, not on the ground where we can't run away."

John turned away from the major then took a few steps forward.

"I am not a coward." John said. "The ground was giving out beneath my feet. Everything was on fire, the magma was exploding out, trees were falling, and death was all around."

The aliens shook their heads then resumed their tasks as did Gaqubo.

"There wasn't enough time to go after him--I had witnessed my family die through a time portal. Checking if he weren't still there before leaving my son's alternate version wasn't a option."

Smith grew stiff as he turned toward him and looked so silently furious at him.

"Professor Robinson and Major West would find a way, exploding planet or not." Smith replied.

His words, his demeanor, his appearance was eerily calm with a professionalism that belonged to a officer.

"Priplanus was exploding and the Jupiter 2 had to leave." Smith looked back, regretful, then shook his head and sighed. "I can see where you are forging this farce from and it hurts more than it did then."

"Where are we 'forging' this from?"

"The incident where we had the space miner, Nerim, mining Cosmonium beneath a crater."

"Cosmonium?"

It was quiet as the members of the group exchanged a glance and Smith was visibly pained by the question and hurt.

"Instead of leaving the chariot, me, and Will to die like expendable cargo, he went after us." It came out cold but still as furious and degrading. "Professor Robinson would never leave _a_ Doctor Smith's body behind without burying him in some way one way or another."

"That sounds incredibly irresponsible to be out there when a planet is dying." John noted.

It was silent as Don smacked his forehead -- quickly getting the blunder -- as John saw himself a righteous man.

"He was a good man who did things when things were about to fall apart." Smith was back in his oddly calm mood as though he cared little about the man and his feelings about the Robinsons were being suppressed. "You don't."

"Now stop smearing his name and his character."

John was between a rock and a hard place, he was himself, yet there was a different version of him who took the biggest risk featuring his life for a _terrorist,_ not only for his son. That was jarring. More jarring than he could care for in his life, this world hinted of things that hadn't happened in his universe with things that had been done all so differently. The anger being radiated off the older man's eyes were something that told John that a uneasy truce in this world had become more than even after being abandoned.

"I am doing my dear old friend a favor by rebuilding him properly then I am going to leave this campsite and use him to find someone willing to get me off this planet back to Earth where I rightfully belong to tell Alpha Control the fate of the Jupiter 2 and how your attempt to score political goodies, allies, and what not is very insulting."

Smith took out a laser pistol from behind and aimed at him.

"Get away before I decide to kill you, imposter."

"Okay," John shook his hands. "We're going."

The man had enough and any further words would instigate a fire fight that the professor did not want. The older man wasn't the only one who had a laser pistol aimed at the two men, the others had their weapons aimed at them ready to fire at the slightest provocation and didn't even lower them until they were far away enough that they could lower their weapons.

John paused in his tracks then turned toward Don.

"Don, did you see what I see?"

"Yeah, a pissed off Smith."

"No."

"What did you see that I didn't?"

"I saw undying loyalty." The professor proceeded to walk on ahead of the major who lagged behind and struggled to catch up with him. "I was right in the beginning, we could have had someone reliable and betrayal prone."

"That's not a good thing to have."

"It worked with them for two years." John's insistance was dumbfounding for Don to hear this.

"Only because he hadn't gotten dangerous to the point then to leave behind. Liabilities take time to show and you know that."

"I am very aware of that." John acknowledged keeping up his pace. "Despite being seen as one and left behind, we can assume he was left behind as he was seen as a liability because of his past actions, he is . . ." John grimaced, looking aside, at what had once been in their cards and lost. "or was. ." and actions that lead to the downfall of a alliance. " still loyal to us."

"Almost like he were waiting for them to come back and take him back." Don noted as he folded his arms. "A different spin on the Hachiko tale."

"A different spin for sure." John agreed

"This isn't going spin well with the others; isn't it?" Don asked with a wince.

"If you hadn't. . ." The professor clenched his hands as Don halted in his tracks. "If you hadn't taken him with us inside the ship then he wouldn't be dead and we wouldn't have gone through a time bubble in the first place." John was paused in his tracks when he turned toward the major's direction with a dark look that seemed so off on him and his voice fell bitter. "Now, would we?"

"We wouldn't." Don admitted, rubbing the back of his head then lowered his head. "Dumbest mistake I ever made in my life in hindsight."

"We can agree on that." John said as he resumed his way. "I am not sure Will can agree with leaving Robot with Doctor Smith."

"I'm sorry." Don apologized.

"I am not the one you should be apologizing to." John reminded.

Don shifted in the direction of the campsite, grimacing, but quite apologetic then shifted back toward John and followed him back.

* * *

John finished his report and Will understood, what little that he could grasp, but the wound hurt that someone had taken a friend. Robot patted on Will's shoulder with his plasma blaster, "I am still here, Will Robinson." and Will smiled, looking toward him. Judy walked out of the Jupiter 2 for a long walk with Penny joining her including the small Blarp.

John sat down at the bridge.

"My love. . ." Maureen said, softly. "You're being bothered."

"This mission was doomed to fail and I didn't see that. Why didn't I?"

"You were focused on the precautions to the point you forgot about the human factors." She sat down at the bridge with him. "Didn't even take the young man's character into consideration."

"He's thirty." John reminded.

"He shouldn't be so hot headed. He makes---how old was Smith?"

"Eight years older according to his file. It could be a edit that he made personally, we don't know how old that he were."

"Good Lord." Maureen leaned back into the chair, combing her hands through her dark red hair.

John lifted a brow.

"Is it going to be worth it?" John asked.

Maureen paused, her eyes meeting John, lifting her brows equally as he did.

"Doing the time bubble all over again?" Maureen asked.

John proceeded to laugh in response.

"That bit isn't lost on me." John said.

"Neither am I." Maureen admitted with a sigh. "We have to do it to get back to our universe."

Maureen took his hand then gave it a squeeze and planted a kiss on his knuckles.

"A okay." John agreed. What happened more than a few weeks ago was now nostalgic. "We're going home and colonize Alpha Prime A instead of Global Sedition if it's the last thing we do."

Maureen sat down alongside him in the chair then set her hands grasping the side of his face, admiring him, then they at once proceeded to kiss the other in the dim nightlight on the bridge.

* * *

It was late in the night and Will opted to go check on his friend--evading Robot's sensors -- taking along his laser pistol for that matter. He sneaked in through the night making a quiet arrival to the campsite then paused in his tracks spotting Robot set in front of a short machine with chassis that seemed so simplistic and otherwise more armor for the chest. Robot was singing a merrily alien tune that Will couldn't tell was what observing everyone was fast asleep.

Will crept further into the campsite.

"Robot, are you okay?" Will whispered.

Robot's helm twirled toward Will.

"These are the best nights of my LIFE!" Robot's helm bobbed up.

"Ssssh!" Will pssted. "You're a little too loud."

"Why are you here so late?" Robot whispered with a lower voice.

"Everyone is asleep and it's easy to visit you." Will said.

"Ah, this computes." Robot said.

"So, how long are these people staying?" Will asked.

"They will leave after they help Doctor Smith."

Will was quiet after a long moment looking around for where the older man could possibly be sleeping.

"Got any information why he were left behind?"

"Doctor Smith instructed that they not go to the cave of the Space Destructors each time they leave the camp. It stands to speculate that cave is the reason why he is here."

"Space Destructors?. . ."

"They even mention that he has sealed off the cave to ensure someone else does not suffer the same fate as himself."

"Where is he sleeping?"

"He is sleeping in a different cave system after having been exiled recently along with Mauqi; however his exile hinges on him not being here in daylight."

"Then why are you here instead of him?"

"He does not trust taking me with him as people are capable of entering his place and Doctor Smith being unable to stop it all alone."

"Geeze, sounds like he has had it happen before."

"It has according to a few members who have been here longest. They do not intend to take him or me with them."

"Ow. . . that has to hurt."

"He doesn't know."

"Double ow. So, you're okay with this?"

"I get to have a body. . . sooner! I do not see anything bad about this."

Will had a short laugh in response.

"And you don't get to stay cooped up in a room,"

"This is better,"

"I totally forgot about you in the first four days, sorry about that,"

"It is okay, Will Robinson." Will yawned then rubbed his eyes. "I am fine, go home, and sleep."

"Take care of your new friends, Robot. This time, I get the feeling things are gonna be different on your first try."

Will turned away then proceeded to walk into the night. 

"This will be my second try." Robot corrected to the nightly air.


	4. Chapter 4

It's something so simplistic that made the future on their temporary home so complicated and cruel that it couldn't be handed on a silver platted by God. They weren't aware of when they were in the timeframe of the Earth that the Smith on this planet came from neither did they know the living conditions of said planet. John found himself wondering as they were mining the fuel out of the ground regarding the status of Earth here. 

Things were different with Smith and his family in this world.

Couldn't that same thought applied to Earth?

A living planet not on the brink of death?

John applied that thought.

* * *

Gaqubo exchanged a glance with his companions late one night two months after the machine's head was dropped into their lives. The machine's appearance in their lives changed everything, their plans regarding what was to be done and becoming keenly familiar to his mechanical operation playing a hand in his reconstruction. It was getting pretty late and the machine's progress was getting on Gaquobo's nerves.

"Is it done yet?" Gaquobo asked, irritated.

"Patience, patience, patience." Smith replied. "All that he needs is something so simple."

"Get on with it."

"A diode tunnel timer. We need to make that then he shall be ready to be our menace and thorn."

"What's that to a organic being?"

Smith bore a grin.

"A heart." Smith looked aside, fondly. "Good night, dear fellows, and good riddance."

Smith walked off.

"Petty!"

Smith turned toward the other member, lifting his brows.

"Only returning the favor that you greeted me last night, my dear girl."

"So you were listening in last night!"

"Not all of it, my dear Poa. Just what I needed to hear." With trepidation, he approached them. "How does it feel?" he linked his hands behind his back with a tilt of his head and a lift of his brow. "Hurt? Angry? Bitter? "

"Insulting, more like it." Poa said.

"I have given you generally excellent farewells just as the Robinsons did for me." Smith said. "To be given a farewell that way is the ultimate slap to the face and one that dissolves any alliance in the future."

Smith came over to the machine that held Robot in his entirety then slid it down and the wheels propped up.

"Hey, where are you going with him?'

"To my place of residence!"

"Where he can be easily stolen?"

"He should spend company with those who best appreciate the builder of his frame."

Gaqubo hit Smith at the back of the head with the rock then the man collapsed to the ground and Gaqubo struck him, repeatedly, until being withdrawn by Vashuuk so the rock dropped. 

"Enough!" Vashuuk announced. "We are no murderers!"

Poa caught the contraption that held Robot by the handle.

"I hate him." Gaqubo said. "Fortunetly, he won't survive." Gaqubo looked down upon the unconscious older man in contempt. "How sad. . . he was happy for the first time in years that I have known him."

"His loss." Mauqi said with a shrug. 

Then, they quickly left the scene. It was quiet apart from groans that escaped from him after a time until he lifted himself up, his hand cupping the side of his head, feeling quite out of it as he struggled to regain balance as his world was dizzy. There was no one here save for himself in the wilderness underneath the night sky that looked stranger than how he had last seen it.

When was the last time that he had seen the stars? He paused in his tracks, briefly closing his eyes, quite unwell. He stumbled forward then proceeded to wander around. Everything was a blur far as far as the eye could see and his memory was a matter that wasn't a subject at all. It was merely but a non-discussable as that there was nothing in his memory. The howl of a coyote was concerning, yet, he had no idea what a coyote was even as the thought crossed his mind.

* * *

Don was doing star charting late into the night, the last months had been eventful mining for fuel and replacing the parts underneath the Jupiter 2 with the old hull with new hull and in a few weeks time the Jupiter 2 was going to go out, find a new planet, then do the exact same circumstance that brought them into this nightmare. Don did the necessary math accounting for stars arriving in different coordinates, the planets changing position, and the space between each star.

It was more math than the man had cared for; highly unexpected for his perspective, he was supposed to be the pilot who guided the ship, typed in the coordinates, and landed the ship on to Alpha Prime A. He was supposed to be protecting the construction of the hypergate, not being here, it should have been Jeb Walker. The more likable member of the squad, the better man, a team member, someone he wouldn't have have let his rage cloud his judgement.

A loud groan snapped Don out of his nearly completed star charting toward the source of the voice. It was the older Smith, wandering about, with one hand on the side of his head. His steps were slow and lagging in coordination, his balance not that well as he drifted from side to side hitting the large boulders that decorated the landscape.

"What are you here for now, Smith?" Don asked. "Mocking me for insisting that I am Don West but you think I am not and really ill?"

Smith halted in his tracks.

"Who's . . . . Who. . . Who is Smith?"

"You, village idiot."

"Village idiot?"

"The idiot of the village."

"What is a village?"

"A group of people."

"People?"

"More one one person. I can see why they abandoned you for being a liability."

"Who?"

"Can you stop the act. It's getting really old."

"Who abandoned me for being a. . . I don't seem to understand that word."

"A problem. Trouble maker. Chaos starter."

"Right, a liability. Who's my people?"

"The Robinsons."

Don got up to his feet with a glare as Smith stared baffled at him.

"Robinsons? What's a Robinsons?"

"Seriously." Don was exasperated by the line of questioning. "You are pretending not to remember anything."

"I don't remember anything, my dear sir." Smith winced, struggling to remember, apologetic. "My head hurts." Smith rubbed the side of his head. "Do you have something that can help with that?"

"You have sent much of your troubles our way just because we look different from the people you know and played games with us! That's enough!"

With all that anger, Don delivered a punch to the face and rubbed his knuckle after that. The older man collapsed into a heap beneath a tall tree with sprawling unusual branches and the younger man finished the math that he intended over the older man's groans then got back up after finishing and made his return to the Jupiter 2.

* * *

The sky lightened up, Judy and Penny -- along with Blarp -- rounded the corner curious to see if he were still there. Judy was the first to approach with one hand up keeping the fourteen year old from getting any closer.

"He doesn't look okay." Penny acknowledged.

"Loudly snoring," Judy noted. "He is still alive."

"If Don gave him a bloody nose then he deserved it." Penny remarked. "Just for getting our counterparts lost."

"They were with him for three years." Judy glared back at her sister. "Those three years--there had to be several openings to get to Alpha Centauri."

"And they took them?" Penny held Blarp in her arms.

"No," Judy shook her head. "They chose him. They may not regret the good days they had with him; maybe, how it ended."

Judy looked over the back of his head as he were laid unconscious on his side.

"Those people didn't know he did it then." Penny said. "I bet they regret choosing him had they known."

His hair was matted in red and dried blood that decorated his hair not only his scalp.

"Penny, take out the hover gurney." Judy turned her attention upon the fourteen year old.

"What? Is he really hurt? Does he hurt more than we do being in the wilderness?"

"Penny, stop that!" Judy snapped, angry, and outraged at the words coming from her younger sister as she raised her voice. "You're talking like a Global Space Force officer, not like a Robinson. Do you know who Penny Robinson is? You knew that a few years ago before dad got in the program---do you even know who you are?"

"Yes, I do. Unlike some people who hadn't been noticing me for the last THREE YEARS or TALKED TO ME." Penny lashed back. "Do you know what that's like? Having a sister but not really having that?"

"I was always there--"

"Having a big sister who's part of a program but won't share funny stories about her work or COMPLAIN about it? It's like you weren't even there! I hardly ever saw you!"

"I was---"

"Judy, tell me. Give me one example in the last few years where you talked to me until this mission started!"

Judy was silenced by Penny's words. 

"Mom was right that you took after dad." Penny's voice grew heartbroken and began to crack. "I didn't think that was true. . ." Penny laughed at her older sister, her figure visibly shaking, so heartbroken and bitter as she wiped off the tears. "you tell me--of all people -- of who I am?"

Penny pointed back at herself.

"You don't know _me_." Penny emphasized. "Will does. Isn't that funny?" Penny dropped the gear that Judy had made her pack. "Here's your stupid gear."

Judy watched her sister walk off with Blarp in tow and Judy's heart ached then proceeded to make the necessary actions to treat what was possible. Judy grimaced, whatever damage that he had suffered in the attack prior to encountering the major could be permanent or not depending how extensive and how deep the wounds were. Yet, Judy could tell that obviously this was going to impact his long term memories as it were a very traumatic head injury. 

It was also a new chance to start on the right foot with the older man and this time start it right. She bit her lip, regretfully, on the thought. Just thinking it was cruel and demeaning just to get a potential alliance inked, solidified in stone, and seen to as it's longevity in the form of actions. What also hurt? He wouldn't even remember the Robinsons of this universe and it was cruel to think it was a good thing in the long run with the family starting their own various relationships with him.

It truly was the most bitter sweet of them all.

Not only how her relationship with her sister was frayed.

She needed to apologize to Penny, soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not expect the blow up between the sisters to happen. That just happened quite naturally between them. 
> 
> Smith insists he is hurt, Don doesn't believe him --> he was hurt.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE! A long chapter that took a lot of time to make!

"I put him into a medical induced coma."

"So, we need to find his cave and get his belongings." John said.

"Everything." Judy said. "The more that we have, the more that it will be very beneficial and his recovery goes well."

"If I had believed him, would this pressure on his brain be any different?" Don asked as he took a step forward.

"Not at all." Judy reassured, apologetic, with a shake of her hand. "Even if you got him into the ship, he would have fallen after losing balance and hurt his head even more." Don didn't seem so entirely convinced by the reply. "It was likely for the best that you didn't."

"Do we got enough anesthetic for him, doc?" Don asked.

"More than enough," Judy said, smiling, something that made the rest feel hopeful. "We haven't needed to use it until now."

"Oh, thank God." John was the most relieved of them all and Don had mixed feelings about it.

"He has all the anesthetic that he needs until the pressure is gone and wean him off." Judy added on.

"Maureen and I will search for his cavern," John said. "Don, Penny, make sure we get more fuel---just in case."

"Just in case." Penny said then sarcastically added as John and Maureen were the first to leave along with the others as she folded her arms. "Not like Jupiter Program has a Jupiter 3 already out there."

"Blip."

Blarp cushioned Penny's eyes with her thumbs and the young girl laughed.

* * *

John and Maureen were out while the rest of the family were out doing their tasks. Will was somewhere off with Robot searching for the aggressors who instigated the whole incident and tell them what had happened without even telling his family. John and Maureen wondered for hours through the landscape searching for the cave in which the older man had called his residence.

"The place that he lives at has to be somewhere around here."

"Somewhere could be no where, John."

"He doesn't strike me as the kind of fellow who camps out in the wilderness without at least some protection."

"We have met strange travelers in the last two months," Maureen reminded.

Maureen and John came to a halt as the professor laughed setting his hands on his hips.

"Ten years waiting for people? None of those interesting people we've met crossing paths with us?" he rubbed the back of his neck, thinking it over. "I'll be lying if I admit that what our intended future sounded cruel and boring compared to this."

"A plausibly never ending adventure?" Maureen asked.

"Unending."

"It's worse than being alone."

"Maybe it is better."

"Why is it better than being alone on Alpha Prime A?"

"This experience is making me have a good look at myself and my mistakes," John said. "There's a pattern. I admit--I am no better than my old man."

"Being a professor is being better than him."

"He didn't take risks in the face of survival, we have to do that, he had to do that too during the war and he lost people because of his negligence."

John approached the edge of a mountain's rocky wall as he folded his arms looking up toward the rocky terrain in front of him with a rounded rock formation.

"I won't defend him." Maureen assured the professor then grimaced, looking back at his long and stained career from the public eye but at a military perspective, he was a revered and well respected individual in combat. "He was on the wrong side of history unlike you are."

John grimaced then proceeded to shift toward Maureen.

"We weren't on the right side of our children's history by not giving them a choice or be part of the program as that proposed space scouts."

"John, space scouts imply there's more than one family." Maureen pointed out on the issue. "It was considered a very risky mission back then and arriving there without any hiccup wasn't expected."

"Speaking of one family." John leaned his back against the rocky terrain. "We're going to be that one family lost in space forever to the general public like the one here--"

"We don't know if they are still lost." Maureen noted.

"Given one of their owns reaction to us; he hasn't heard a thing. Not a damn thing." John commented, sickened, disturbed, all by the implication that he was making. He didn't feel so well about it. "The silence is deafening, darling."

"Just because nobody talks about them around him doesn't mean that they are gone, love." Maureen's voice softened.

"I can see that happening with us. . ." John turned toward Maureen with a tinge of regret. "just like them." the professor grimaced at the very thought. "All of us meeting a miserable and lonely ending." he shifted his gaze toward the blue sky. "If we go through a time bubble and it brings us to one where we died in transit and Doctor Smith was never trapped."

"By my math, that's a great world." Maureen said, bitterly. "Eliminates conflicts between our counterpart."

"What conflicts?"

"John." Maureen stared at him. "Your bond with Will wasn't what it was when he sent to sleep."

"It wasn't." John conceded with a shake of his head, disappointed, yet very regretful how his deep involvement lead to a rift between him and his youngest children. "Neither was it what it had been before with Penny." he hung his head. "That wouldn't have ended well with the saboteur being there, too."

The professor had a sigh then lifted his head.

"Except there wouldn't have been a alien planet below to resolve the issue." John noted quite bitterly. "It would have been a disaster of massive proportions."

"Suppose he would be scared, noticing that he wasn't there among us, assume that we threw him out of the air lock and struggled to find our way home and decided it was all that way because of him. What then?"

They were quiet, they _had_ metaphorically threw him out of the air lock and had left him behind. They had killed him in their little tragic way with the other versions of themselves not knowing who to believe with the major's insistence that it was Global Sedition and the older man protesting against that because they were environmental activists not scientists.

It was a quiet train of thought that echoed in both of their heads at the same time in unison in the middle of a sigh. It was loud enough that it echoed in the silence between them that went unfilled and marred by a more difficult situation. The difficulty was something so tangled in problems that was made by before that simply interacting with their counterparts wasn't a sane option in their quest to prevent history from repeating itself even if that is where they ended up in.

Maureen leaned forward, setting her hand on the rock and put her other hand on the professor's shoulder then gave it a squeeze. Abruptly she fell with the rock giving away then John helped her up to her feet and they both looked toward what had happened before their very eyes. There was a tunnel set before them awaiting with the interior glowing gold inside and humming all the same. John was the first to wander in as he observed cave paintings on the wall that featured strange figures including a strange saucer shape in between them.

"This must be his place." Maureen noted.

"Now . . ." John scanned the interior. "we know."

"All this equipment, must have taken a long time to gather." Maureen said, sorrowfully.

"Hardly ever aged in the slightest." John added with a slight laugh.

"Could have been years ago."

"This must be his sleeping bag." John said as he paused in front of a silver well worn sleeping bag that wasn't black or red or green; just silver. "And the other must be his cavemate's sleeping bag."

Maureen walked around the room admiring the equipment then they proceeded to pack his belongings ruffling through the belongings and carefully set it into the bag that had been brought along. Maureen found a gray luggage that seemed well cared for with little signs of aging and signs of being used in several conflicts, chew marks, some fire damage, and stains around the edges. She unclipped the luggage then slid it open which is where a unusual finding was discovered.

It was a black uniform with a green v-neck and a purple dickie. Her hands grazed along the cotton polyester fabric that felt warm and soft to the touch, well cared for, still looked as new, just as bright, just as it had been when it was last worn then her hands moved to the second uniform that had a insignia alongside it included with emblems: Dr Smith and a emblem that indicated his ranking was that of colonel just as his counterpart was. She paused, startled.

"John."

"What is it?"

"There's things we don't know about the man that we left behind."

"Oh, that? That could be different."

"He was a colonel here." Maureen pointed toward his badge. "That takes a very long time to get. He would have to be a _teenager_ when he joined the United Global Space Force."

John froze then looked toward her as the same matter was becoming increasingly obvious.

"He altered himself." John stated. "Didn't he?"

He paced around the room, folding his arms, grimacing over the issue.

"This seems the more probable answer." Maureen said.

It was the most probable answer and that made the professor laugh.

"It had to be the eugenics program of the late 20th century, older people were allowed in then were made younger but it was made in such a way that it let them slowly age so they could enjoy their newfound youth. . ."

The professor walked away rubbing the back of his head processing all of it. The professor put his hands on his hips looking on toward the cave paintings that decorated the wall of the room. It was quiet between them.

"We were all kids back then, weren't we?"

"No." Maureen shook her head, heartbroken, just as John as she replied. "Just real, genuine, young adults--" she pointed back and forth between the other. "the way we are now."

"We lost something reversing our ages and Doctor Smith lost nothing." John noted.

John cracked up laughing, pacing in a circle, avoiding the wall as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I used to be a better man before I went through the arch." John said. "I--I-I threw it all away!" He gestured away from himself, angry, bitter, toward the opening of the cavern yet very confused how everything had become what it was now. "I feel like I am corrupted by something far more uglier than what made the monster I fought inside of the Jupiter 2."

"I became your enabler." Maureen said as John turned toward her. "And you became a individual who ignored."

"What changed?" he walked a little as he folded his arms. "What changed about our very beings that made us all not ourselves?"

"We took a backseat in caring about the world and we didn't change our ways until it were too late." Maureen answered her partner.

John nodded in agreement, bitter, heartbroken, ashamed of his own inactions.

"That program was of course a smokescreen for preparing the elderly for the virus that was seen heading our way and destructive to the elderly." John said with a sigh as he approached her side, bitter. "Supposed to save the world and humanity, instead," he started to laugh at the irony that they were in. "doomed ourselves."

It was a bitter realization as the laughter between ceased, holding on to each other, how things had gone so wrong with their children, now closer than they were before. Within a few minutes, the couple parted then resumed packing what they assumed to be the older man's belongings.

"Then how old was Doctor Smith when he went in?" Maureen asked.

John shifted toward Maureen.

"Fifty-one, ideally." John replied.

Maureen grimaced at first before replying.

"That makes sense." Maureen said. "More you know about characters like him."

"Very sense." Then John laughed, loudly, full of heart, up-lifting at the entertaining thought. "Greedy, vain, and narcissistic to the extent of declining natural aging after the virus was gone."

John resumed packing as Mauqi came to a pause at the entrance of the cave and made a run for it.

"Oh. . " Maureen gasped, loudly, bringing John back. "A photo."

"Hey, those young girls look like the reporters I had seen the day before we left." John commented in awe.

"That's Principal Cartwright at the right hand corner." Maureen noted.

"No, my love." John's voice was soft. "That's _Doctor_ Maureen Robinson to you."

Maureen covered her mouth with her hand gazing down at the photograph.

"My god, John..." Maureen said, taken back.

". . . And that young man isn't the general," he pointed at the younger man. "He is Major Don West."

"They look so young, hopeful, and optimistic." Maureen coed.

"In a bleak universe that's dark and sad decorated in bright colors painted with passion, love, hope and adoration that is more than grief, sorrow, and darkness, and hopelessness."

Maureen looked toward him, briefly then back toward the photograph.

"A poet made that world come into being." Was Maureen's reply.

John's features were soft looking upon the image.

"Nah, not a poet." John shook his head. "A world like that? Made by a lover of something so profound and simple."

"He hasn't aged a day at the least according to this photograph." Maureen squinted at the image before her. "Could they have done the same thing?"

"This world is different, my love." John reassured. "Everything we have experienced tells me it wasn't."

"But the kids have, in those thirteen years, we can assume the adults haven't aged as much." Maureen changed her train of thought. "They're aging gracefully."

It was a small thought to smile over.

* * *

Don and Penny returned late that night back to the Jupiter 2 with a clean supply of additional fuel and yet, Penny chose to speak with Judy, only choosing to go to bed after having left over dinner that Maureen had left. Penny kept her space from Judy and it was helped by the breakfast delivery system that the Jupiter 2 was armed with that sent breakfast through a series of channels to different rooms. 

This continued even to the dinner delivery method, a family feast was rare, but it showed the frayed relationships more than the events following the incident that spelled doom for the entire family. John and Maureen weren't aware the slightest of the conflict between the daughters. Judy felt that it were a gift in more ways than one. 

Robot was reasonably confident it wouldn't last much longer.

* * *

"What do you mean the machine _refuses_ to take our commands?"

Gaqubo had just returned from some time hunting wild rats that were all strewn connected to a rope dangling off his shoulder when he lowered them down to the ground with a soundless thump and a scowl that told there was a score to be settled, irritated, as if seeing this problem had a connection to the individual that had only been attacked just four days ago. Gaqubo wasn't the most happy of them all.

"It refuses to do so," Vashuuk said. "Insists that it has been programmed only to respond to Doctor Smith."

"That NAME again!" Gaqubo roared as he stood up to the tips of his toe making himself appear taller and more intimidating then shook his index finger at Vashuuk. "Never say that NAME, ever."

"We may have bit off more than we could chew." Mauqi said.

"Bit off more than we can chew?" Was the response in return from Gaqubo. "I don't think so." Gaqubo laughed at his companions. "He threw a wrench into the plans."

"It took us four days to make this diode tunnel timer." Mauqi patted on the machine's chassis. "It will take a little longer to regain his trust after attacking him."

"Or we can lead him away from the campsite with the imposters and get him to make the command to be operating under our authority." Poa suggested.

"Sounds easy enough." Gaqubo commented.

"Except he is inside the Jupiter 2 recovering from his attack," Vashuuk pointed out. "He is in no condition to leave the ship and do the necessary changes that we desperately need."

Gaqubo rubbed the sides of his temples, so very irritated, annoyed.

"If you hadn't attacked him so viciously, Gaq, we could have made the necessary changes today." Mauqi was the first to stand up to her feet. "It's time we have a new leader in charge of this group."

Gaqubo scanned the small group of what was his former colleagues seeing the same look in their eyes and sighed.

"Whatever it takes to get payback with those who burned me in the law enforcement police force," Gaqubo then amended his comment with bitterness as he walked away linking his hands behind his back, darkly, mournfully, recalling what lead them all to become this way. "Burned all of us and set us up for police brutality against innocent children."

"We let you attack a old Earth man and leave him for dead," Poa reminded Gaqubo. "Perhaps, we ought to stay burned."

"That was different and they had parents who never forgave me for it, earth people are easy to get forgiveness from when the matter doesn't include their children when it comes to us space travelers."

* * *

John was in a state of shock and confusion as Penny was shunning her sister and pretending that she weren't there during feast with the family, Will was babbling about what he found much to the interest of the family with Robot poking in some fun anecdotes insisting that their adventures were better than the planet of doom and how sillier they were and paled in comparison. Asides to that, everyone was acting like nothing was wrong when everything was.

"Sounds to me that you miss your friends." Judy spoke up.

His helm twirled in the direction of the doctor.

"Negative, machines do not feel." Robot replied.

"Robot, you are clearly nostalgic for a time that isn't anymore." Judy added.

"Even though my neural net has merged, my programming is not set for these kind of feelings." Robot protested.

"Sure, sure, Robot." Don said, dismissively as the others exchanged smiles of their own.

"But, do you feel sadness?" Penny spoke up.

Robot was silent as the family was eating before he replied.

"They were fun." Robot confessed. "Some nights, I wondered if . ."

"You wonder what, Robot?" Penny asked.

"He. . . enjoyed them more than he cared to admit being a castaway with Will Robinson and enjoyed his friendship," Robot conveyed to the Robinsons.

Don rolled his eyes, cupping the side of his face, quite annoyed.

"He got what he deserved." Then Don quickly added with a wave of his hand. "The _taller_ version."

"Yes, the taller version did." John agreed with a nod. "Eaten alive by baby spiders in a time portal too small for him."

Heads turned in alarm at the words that came from the professor.

"His mind waves indicated at the time that he was enjoying ever minute even as he fell apart by the mind and Will Robinson hated being in space. Doctor Smith and I made the years spent be worthwhile on that planet to the best of our ability. Initially, I detected regrets on Doctor Smith's mind but as time wore on, there were _none_ by the time I left."

Will was quiet as he looked toward the empty space beside him. Will shook his head, so many things that could have been were taken away and changed so drastically that there was a general idea of what their future could have been with the unaltered version of the older man in their med bay. He could see it, quite clearly, getting into trouble, getting out of it, fighting for the other, and Robot being part of that equation.

"That is oddly comforting." John remarked with a laugh. "And did older Will do, too?"

"Laughing, smiling, was a rare occasion for him that he believed was for saving his family." Robot said. "It was very difficult after a few years to get him to laugh and smile."

"Oh, sounds just about stubborn as me." Will said, light hearted.

The family laughed in unison at the tale of the stubborn old men and Maureen exchanged a bitter glance with John. He was, in many ways, the prime version of their son and they were alternates, save for John, all of them. Three alternate timelines living together in the form of people and a robot as though there wasn't any notable difference at all. They were ghosts of a timeline that had been rectified living on borrowed time. It was just so bitter that the older Will had to die _alone._

* * *

Dinner was done and eaten with in the matter of a hour that night, it was Penny who was the first to excuse herself then take her lizard gorilla with her back into the Jupiter 2 without saying as much as goodnight to Judy before falling asleep. John stared in confusion as the family dispersed watching the estranged relationship that was almost a copy of the one that he shared with Will except for the differences.

"Cold war?" John asked.

"Civil war between the women." Don was annoyed. "Seriously."

"It's about time it showed." Maureen said, gently, as she took the plates.

"About time?" Don asked. "You expected this to happen?"

"Their relationship isn't the same of what it had once been," was the answer that he got from Maureen. "I have been at ground zero for a very long time--" she took the plate that was handed to her by the youngest Robinson. "thank you, Will."

"No problem." Will made a duck for the inside of the Jupiter 2.

"I ask Judy and Penny to hand over tomato during last night's feast and they simply don't get along so Robot had to go over and get it for me." Don complained as he stood up from the table then handed into the professor's free hand the plate as John was dumbfounded and looked at the plate as though he hadn't expected that. "Something is really up with your kids."

John scratched his head with his free hand, bewildered.

"Why are they like this?" John turned away from the pilot. "They never used to be that way."

Don walked away, annoyed, shaking his head.

"John, Judy hasn't really been home in years." Maureen explained, quite calmly with a hand on the side of his shoulder. "You come in and expect everything to be same after being in a field of what can be best compared to war against tragedy for years?"

"Oh God." John said, rubbing his head. "I never saw Judy emulating me coming."

"You were the fixture in the family," Maureen said. "They modeled after you, except for Penny. . ."

"Sounds to me that she takes after you, my love." John rubbed her chin as he looked toward her. "At least when figures of authority won't listen to her; she rebels. Just like her mother."

Maureen smiled, in adoration, back toward him. John slowly let go of her chin then picked up his plate, slid it on top of Don's plate, including the plate that was left out for Blarp and quite empty with some crumbs. The professor and Maureen went inside holding on to their fair share of plates with the door closing behind them after entering leaving the outside engulfed by darkness save for the gray light illuminating from the bridge of the Jupiter 2.

* * *

Penny was the only one who went to the med bay to observe how things were going along, noticing her sister was now just then checking the older man's vitals in the month that passed and leaving without as much of a word. It was quiet between them in those instances still filled with resentment and much anger coming from one side mixed with bitterness, regret, and certain sorrow.

The chaos of the month had all but faded at night along with the uncertainty, the planning, and adrenaline that coursed through each and everyone of them if there were a problem but on nights that didn't, it was all calm. These were nights where it was just her and whoever was on the planet, different from the friends that she had once known, different as there wasn't a sea of people to choose from as her friends.

The coldness lingered between the sisters taking on the form of ice and a barrier of resentment.

Snow was all that could be seen when the sisters were near each other in the most metaphorical way possible.

Judy didn't know how to heat up the ice and the snow with the right words without making it more murky.

* * *

"You can ask about my patient."

Judy found the words after a month and a day of Penny peeking into med bay at night.

"Is he getting better?"

"Weaned off." Judy said as Penny walked into the room.

"Better?" Blarp blipped as she leaped off Penny then crashed on to the older man's chest.

"Yes, Blarp, _better_." Judy said.

"Better." Blarp repeated.

Judy took in a sharp breath then exhaled.

"I am sorry." Judy apologized. "About . . . About never really coming home and sharing work stories then ask about your day."

Penny listened to what her sister had to say. Judy grimaced before adding with a wince then gulped down her regret before continuing.

"In hindsight, my actions made you seem like you didn't matter, Penny." She sat down on to the nearest chair and cupped her hands on to her lap alongside the biobed. "You do matter to me and I will try every day to make up for it."

It was quiet between them for a few long minutes. 

"It's a start." Penny said.

"Did you hear we're leaving soon?" Judy asked, shifting her attention upon Penny.

"Yeah." Penny replied as she watched Blarp's suction cupped fingers tap on the older man's face. "Feels like we haven't been here long." She chuckled watching the gorilla monkey playing with the older man's face. "Not homely like Earth."

The older man's eyes flipped open in alarm then screamed off the top of his lungs and shoved Blarp off his face with a girly shriek. It happened so quickly that he avoided the touch of the young Penny Robinson making a bolt for it fleeing from the med bay. He pressed random buttons at the airlock then the door opened and he fled on out into the night with a scream.

Smith's screams awoke the Robinsons out of slumber and out of their bedrooms to follow the source of the sound. They were alarmed, frightened, and terrified of the scream as Robot shifted from what had once been his resting room only months ago for a ten year trip. His perogative was different now; retrieve a fleeing patient who was supposed to be resting and taking it easy.

Robot rolled through the landscape quickly following after the source of the screams into the night that were renewed. Robot heard the man shriek, again, and again, and again, the same screams that he had heard through the walls as the women were eaten alive. Robot fired his plasma blaster at a tall tree branch that collapsed without a additional shot and the man's path was blocked. The old man climbed over the tree branch and ran on. 

Robot took the other path and followed his signature. The old man was surrounded by dangerous lifeforms that were not sapient in the very least and focused with hunger, something that greatly alarmed the machine and terrified the elderly man. Robot overheard the man's terrified yelps as he marched on closer to the scene then fired plasma blasts after the lone wolves that surrounded the man sending them running.

"I will not hurt you, Doctor Smith." Robot assured. "Return to the ship and get some rest."

He was down to a medical gown that was torn in the sides from running through the bushes and a single strip missing from the side.

"Robot?" John called.

"I am here, Professor Robinson!" Robot called back.

"Remain where you stand." Robot warned. "If you go further, I will follow and wear you down until you are too tired to walk."

The older man grimaced as he looked on ahead of him spotting the glowing in the dark eyes and shuddered turning toward the machine with a scowl. The men arrived joining the Robot's side as Smith stood in the cold.

"Come with us if you like to live, Doctor Smith."

"Who is Doctor Smith?" Strangely, he had a English accent. "I never heard of that man."

"Of course you don't, you don't remember me, either---"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME, ATTACKER!"

"Great." Don said, annoyed. "He remembers me!"

"You--Y---you--you fiend, you left me to die!" He pointed back at the younger man with a look of rage. "I asked for help! You said no and left me there TO DIE."

Don was struggling to stifle back laughter at the older man's comments.

"I guess he remembers the story of how we left him." Don noted.

"Seems so." John said.

"This is hysterical, this isn't the right version." Don said with a exhausted laugh.

"Doctor Smith," John started. "we are going to bring you to Earth where you can recover, properly, right before we get back on track on our mission."

"I. . I. . I. . . I am not on Earth?"

"Nope." Don shook his head.

"NO! Mustn't be! Can't be! IMPOSSIBLE!" Smith staggered back. "I would never leave home, never--"

Smith turned away then was stabbed at the side of his neck with a hypospray so he collapsed with Judy's guidance leading him down. Robot joined Smith's side then he used his arm to pick Smith up and set him on to his back. Judy was relieved, with one hand holding a laser pistol, donning rushed protective gear.

"Thank you, Judy." John said.

"Next up, restraints, until he is calmed down when he wakes up." Don said 

"I agree, restraints are very necessary." John had a nod in agreement over Judy's disagreement.

"That won't go well," Judy said. "He will accuse us of trying to finish what Don started---"

"It's the only way to prevent him from running off." John said then lifted a brow. "Do you have a better idea?"

"Robot in the way of the doorway is a start." Judy said. "With the restraints a option."

"That can work with us." John said.

"Long as he has his plasma blaster aimed at him then I have no arguments about that." Don said.

Judy proceeded to smile as everything was settled and better for when the patient would awaken.

"Tomorrow's another day!" Judy announced. 

John laughed then walked on following after Robot with Judy and Don tailing behind him back toward the Jupiter 2.

* * *

It was dark when two figures entered the cave that then lit up to life, beams shot up, paintings were revealed as a short red head called out, "Doctor Smith?" looking around the room followed by a young woman who was older than him by two years. She looked around carrying a strange chimpanzee set on her shoulder as she gazed around.

"Where is he?" was the question asked by the young woman.

The young man turned toward her.

"We just got the updated coordinates for here just a month and a week ago here and now, he is gone. He can't be on the way to Earth, someone has him."

"Who would want Doctor Smith?"

"Someone who like to use him for business." Was the cynical guess.

"Maybe he went with them, willingly."

"If they were better then whoever that he is in trouble with, sure." Mauqi's belongings were no where to be seen, just equipment that didn't need to be maintained as it were self maintenance. "Or been manipulated to go with him."

"We did have that incident that delayed us from getting here and Colonel Smith was able to get out safe with Robot's sensor disk."

"Wherever they are, I hope Colonel Smith gets to Doctor Smith, first." There was some hope and belief that what he said was true.

"Back into space, again?" She beckoned out the doorway.

"We need to mine for some fuel, _Doctor_." he emphasized her title earning a small smile from his sister. "We used a lot of it as it is getting here."

"Bloop, bloop, bloop!" Debbie cheered.

"I agree with Debbie, let's have some dinner!" The younger man replied.

The siblings walked out of the cavern with a laugh but a few minutes later, the young man returned and stared at the wall.

"Sis, I think we got a problem."

"Does it make dinner on the to go?"

"No." Was the reply as the young man pointed toward the cave. "That cave painting is a time loop."

The young woman came to his side then gasped, noticing the sequence of events repeating, over and over, and over, and over until there wasn't any space left behind on the cave to spare. It was stunning and horrifying, as it sunk in, slowly, of what that implied and meant. The young woman took his hand then gave it a squeeze.

"Dad broke the loop and Doctor Smith never told us about his problem. . . why?" the young man wasn't quite happy only confused regarding the matter, he wasn't angry about the loop, bitter, only horrified that his old friend would subject himself to it for a eternity with only the hint of a loop that showed the Jupiter 2 in the mist of destruction. "Why?"

"Because it means there are two Doctor Smith's. A time traveler and the one who is currently asleep; it would be year one all over again if we sent him back in and . . . " The young woman at first didn't have words to say at first. "He came out instead." she puckered her lips, if briefly. "We would have only gotten deeper in space and even more lost than before because of that."

The young man gave it some thought then shrugged.

"Makes sense." He observed the cave painting then started to run away. "The smartest thing that he has ever done in space." He smirked looking toward his sister. "Now, let's eat!"

The young man exited the cave with his sister by his side as they laughed with their arms left on their waists as Debbie the bloop blooped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Smacks 1998 Smith's age with a bat* _make it make sense_.


End file.
